Johannesburg - There was much excitement in Mzansi this week following the announcement that Stellantis plans to build vehicles this country.
As announced on Wednesday, the global automotive giant has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, with a view to building a new assembly plant in South Africa by 2025.
While we do know that the plant will serve both local and export markets, at this stage Stellantis remains tight-lipped about which products might be built locally.
Which means that everything we state from here onwards is pure speculation. But if we piece together a few clues floating around the interwebs, we reckon there’s a good chance that the company will build a Ram bakkie locally.
Samir Cherfan, who heads up the Stellantis Middle East and Africa region, said the new manufacturing plant was an important step in the company’s “Dare Forward 2030” strategy for doubling its volume in this part of the world to over 1 million annual sales.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, while discussing the company’s earnings back in February, commented that the Ram and Jeep brands were enjoying strong results in the Middle East and Africa region, Carscoops reported.
Would it not make sense, in light of this, for Stellantis to build a Ram or Jeep product in South Africa? And while Jeep certainly can’t be ruled out, we reckon Ram is possibly the most solid bet, given the region’s affinity for bakkies.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Stellantis was looking at expanding Ram into a more global brand.
“When we bring Ram pick-up trucks outside of the US - it can be in Latin America, it can be Africa, Middle East, it can be Oceania - it sparks immediately,” Tavares told the US publication.
Ram is a US brand that specialises in pick-up trucks, and is currently best known for its full-sized Ram 1500 model, which competes with the Ford F-150. Earlier versions were marketed as the Dodge Ram, but in recent years Ram has become a separate brand in its own right.
The Ram 1500 is not an obvious choice for African markets, however, as it is large and expensive, but it is widely reported that Ram is developing a range of smaller bakkies.
One possibility is a Toyota Hilux rival that would act as a spiritual successor to the Dodge Dakota that was discontinued in 2011.
It appears that plans for a midsize pick-up are gathering pace in the US. Ram CEO Mike Kobal recently told Muscle Cars and Trucks that the largest white space opportunity for the brand was a midsize pick-up.
“We’re obviously looking at it very, very closely, but nothing to announce today,” Kobal told the US publication.
But would it really make sense to launch a traditional one-tonne bakkie in a market like Africa, where this format is already somewhat overtraded? Wouldn’t a more affordable pick-up make sense?
To that end, another intriguing possibility would be the new unibody bakkie that the company is currently developing for the Brazilian market.
This upcoming Ram 1200, as it’s likely to be called, has already been spotted on the streets in heavily disguised prototype form and according to Mopar Insiders it is based on the same basic platform that underpins the Brazilian Fiat Toro, except that it will be slightly larger while sharing its main underpinnings with the Jeep Commander SUV.
Could the latter be built alongside it in SA, given that Jeep has also been mentioned as a strong brand for the region?
#news #Ram 2024 RAM 1200 Pickup For Latin America Spied Hiding Under Cardboard-Style Disguise https://t.co/uu9Z1HNKbB pic.twitter.com/tepBl9G5CR
— Flyin18T Motorsports (@Flyin18T) January 25, 2023
According to media reports, the Ram 1200 is likely to be offered with 2.0-litre petrol and 2.2-litre turbodiesel engines.
In some markets Ram also offers a smaller pick-up called the 700, but this is basically a rebadged Fiat Strada. The Ram 1200, on the other hand, will be a far more unique product.
Once again, Stellantis has yet to announce which products it intends to build in South Africa, but we’re all very keen to find out.